At least 275 people died yesterday when a factory building which supplies clothes to Primark collapsed in Bangladesh.

The clothing chain offered condolences to the dead and their families.

Matalan also took orders from one of the factories in the building until two months ago, while campaigners said the brands Benetton and Mango also used suppliers in the block – although this was denied by the retailers yesterday.

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Escape: Rescuers used massive strips of cloth as escape chutes from the textile factories to help the workers escape the devastation after the eight-storey building collapsed in Bangladesh

Destroyed: The building housed several garment factories and collapsed
near Bangladesh's capital yesterday, killing at least 149 people and
trapping many more in the rubble

Business: Matalan also took orders from one of the factories in the building until two months ago

Rescue: Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said 149 people have
been confirmed dead and another 600 survivors had been rescued

Terrifying: A distressed woman is seen going down the temporary escape - fire fighters and army personnel worked frantically through the morning at the Rana Plaza building in Savar

Grim: Rescue workers use clothes to bring down survivors and bodies after the collapse

Around 2,000 workers were in the eight-storey building when it collapsed without warning yesterday morning. The Rana Plaza in Savar, near the capital Dhaka, housed five garment factories.

More than half of the 1,000 injured are understood to be women, while some are children as the building also housed a crèche.

Safety: Buildings in the crowded city of Dhaka are sometimes erected without permission and many do not comply with construction regulations. Dozens died when a garment factory collapsed in the same area eight years ago

'It looks like an earthquake has struck here,' said one resident as he looked on at the chaotic scene of smashed concrete

Collapse: The building near Bangladesh's capital housed several garment factories and was likely to be packed

Medical help: A garment worker who was trapped under the rubble is carried to safety by a rescuer

Punish: Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters during a visit to the site that the building had violated construction codes and 'the culprits would be punished'

Survivor Shaheena Akhter, 23, said:
‘Some of us did not want to work fearing something might happen, but the
garment factory people told us that we had to join our work otherwise
we will lose our jobs.’ The tragedy highlights the unsafe conditions
many endure in factories making clothes for Western companies.

Tessel
Pauli, a spokesman for the Clean Clothes Campaign, said: ‘These
accidents represent a failure of these brands to make safety a
priority.’

A Primark spokesman said: ‘Primark has been engaged to review the Bangladeshi industry’s approach to factory standards.

‘Primark
will push for this to also include building integrity.’ Two factories
in the building – New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms – were making
clothing for Mango of Spain and Benetton of Italy, according to campaign
group Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity. But the companies
denied their clothes were being made in the building.

Matalan
received supplies from New Wave Style up until February. A spokesman
said last night: ‘We are deeply saddened by the news.’

Race against time: Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors from the building, which pancaked onto itself and stood only about two stories tall

The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire in a garment factory in November that killed 112 people and raised an outcry about safety in the nation's garment industry

Packed: The collapse happened about 8:30 a.m. and since garment factories in the area routinely work 24 hours a day, it appeared likely that the four housed in the building were staffed at the time

Search: Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, some of them weeping survivors, some searching for family members

Risky: Hundreds of people could be seen clambering around the unsafe site in a desperate bid to find survivors yesterday morning

Devastated: A woman cries on the site of the damaged building as she watches the rescue operation

Business: The country has about 4,000 garment factories and exports clothes to leading Western retailers. The industry wields vast power in the South Asian nation

Anxious wait: Relative and friends arrived at the site holding pictures of missing garment workers in an attempt to locate them

Anxious wait: It is not clear what caused the collapse but local media reports said a crack was detected in the block on Tuesday

Concern: People mourn for their relatives, who are trapped inside the rubble - thousands of people descended on the site